Putnam sheriff fires two deputies

Posted: January 27, 2012 - 10:36am

Two Putnam County Sheriff’s Office deputies have been dismissed resulting from an administrative investigation into the operation of their patrol cars. Sheriff Hardy requested that the investigation be conducted as a result of information provided by concerned citizens regarding the crash of a Putnam County patrol car on December 31, 2011.

On December 31, 2011, two deputies, Deputy Terry Krueger, who had been employed with the Sheriff’s Office for six Years, and Deputy Thomas Burger, who had been employed by the agency for just less than a year, were responding to a complaint of noise from golf carts in the area of Hunter Road in Hollister. The deputies were traveling eastbound on State Road 20 in separate cars. Near the intersection of State Road 20 and Twin Lake Grove Drive east of Interlachen, Deputy Burger lost control of his vehicle causing him spin out of control, cross a concrete median, and eventually come to rest in the westbound lane of State Road 20. The vehicle sustained approximately $1,000 in damage to the suspension and under carriage.

The investigation revealed that at the time Deputy Burger lost control of his vehicle his Automatic Vehicle Locator indicated he was traveling at a speed of 124 miles per hour. Deputy Krueger’s vehicle was determined to be traveling at a speed of 119 miles per hour. It was determined that Deputy Burger was initially following Deputy Krueger in the inside lane, but had moved over into the outside lane to pass when he lost control of his vehicle. The posted speed limit in the area where the incident took place is 45 miles per hour. Traveling at such a high rate of speed to a routine call for service is a gross violation of agency policy.

After being briefed on the circumstances surrounding the crash, Sheriff Hardy stated, “We are very fortunate that no one was killed or severely injured as a result of these officers’ reckless behavior and lack of judgment. Although accidents are often unavoidable, had these officers been operating their patrol cars at reasonable speeds, this traffic crash could have been prevented.”

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I'VE NOTICED THAT MANY OF THE OFFICERS HERE IN PUTNAM COUNTY FEEL THAT THEY CAN BREAK THE LAW ANYTIME THEY WANT JUST BECAUSE THEY'RE COPS. I'VE SEEN THEM GOING 60 MPH IN A 35 MPH AREA. NO LIGHTS OR SIRENS. THEY DON'T STOP AT RED LIGHTS BEFORE TURNING RIGHT. ONE ALMOST HIT SOMEONE. TOO BAD WE DON'T HAVE MORE HONEST OFFICERS. WE ALL TAKE OUR LIVES IN OUR OWN HANDS WHEN WE GET ON THE ROAD BUT WE SHOULDN'T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT THE LAW ENFORCEMENT.

Have owned property in this area and spend half my time there. Have seen Deputies traveling at excessive and dangerous speeds several times over the years but assumed they were responding to life threatening emergencies. Now am wondering if that was the case.